Share This Story!

'Apocalypse' keeps X-Men series strong

“X-Men: Apocalypse” is rife with the particular brand of adrenaline-pumping action sequences, slick special effects and smart character building that have made the series a pleasure to watch for close to 20 years, but a playful little throwaway scene

Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

“X-Men: Apocalypse” is rife with the particular brand of adrenaline-pumping action sequences, slick special effects and smart character building that have made the series a pleasure to watch for close to 20 years, but a playful little throwaway scene proves just as memorable.

Exiting a screening of “Return of the Jedi” after a day of playing hooky at the mall, teenage mutants Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) and Jubilee (Lana Condor) argue whether the first or second film in the trilogy is superior, prompting Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) to remark that at least everyone can agree the third movie is always the worst.

Aimed squarely at Brett Ratner’s misunderstood “X-Men: The Last Stand” – co-written by “Apocalypse” scribe Simon Kinberg – the cheeky comment also accurately assesses the new threequel as no “Days of Future Past” (the rebooted series’ “Empire Strikes Back”) but does itself a disservice in downplaying being a notch or two above Matthew Vaughn’s respectable “First Class.”

Set in 1983, the fourth X-Men film from director Bryan Singer catches up with the apparently ageless mutants a decade after the time-traveling escapades of “DoFP” and loops in downright immortal CIA agent Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) from “First Class,” who witnesses a cult revive ancient evil Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) from his Cairo tomb.

Gazing out upon the world, the all-powerful blue baddie sees a dulled citizenry led by “false god” superpowers on the brink of nuclear war and, as he’s done in the past, decides to rebuild, this time with the help from Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Psylocke (Olivia Munn) and Angel (Ben Hardy), the first of his modern Four Horsemen.

Whether in Egypt, the Westchester school run by Prof. Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) or in Germany where Magneto (Michael Fassbender) sees his quiet family life and faith in humanity shattered, Singer continues to present mutant abilities in captivating ways, making ones that – counting the two Wolverine spin-offs – have been seen as many as seven films over feel brand new.

Apocalypse flexing his powers and enhancing those of his lieutenants – none more moving than fourth horseman Magneto’s return to Auschwitz – elicit frequent awe and “DoFP” scene-stealer Whiplash (Evan Peters) has another magnificent sequence scored to a classic pop song, in which his advanced speed turns everyone else slow and allows him to save the day in even more impressive fashion.

As Apocalypse attempts to transfer himself into Charles’ mind and take control of every being on the planet, the consistent visual freshness and investment in complex beloved characters is so successful that it prevents the would-be blockbuster cliché of climactic urban destruction from becoming stale, a feat few of its genre peers have come close to achieving.

Were it not for more than a few wooden line readings by Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence, continuing her plummet back to Earth) and a so-so deployment of the teleporting Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), “Apocalypse” might have further disproven Jean’s trilogy pronouncement. Instead, it’ll simply have to be content with being the “A New Hope” of this remarkable saga.